journal article·2026-04Open access

Advancing Dry Electroencephalography With Scalable, Soft, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation‐Compatible Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene Electrodes for Research and Clinical‐Grade Applications

Sneha Shankar, Jakob Michiels, Ksenija Tasich, Ashley Koluda, Ryan Rich, Brian Erickson, Eugenia Angelopoulos, Francesca Cimino, Daryl Hurwitz, Raghav Garg, Spencer R. Averbeck, Doris Xu, Mariam Josyula, Nina Petillo, James J. Gugger, Kathryn A. Davis, John Medaglia, Flavia Vitale

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 21

Abstract

ABSTRACT Electroencephalography (EEG), essential for diagnosing and researching neurological disorders, utilizes gelled electrodes, which present limitations in safety, comfort, stability, and usability, particularly in long‐term applications. We introduce a novel dry EEG technology using soft, porous, low‐impedance, Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene electrodes. The 10 Hz impedance of these electrodes across scalp locations is 2.1 ± 1.8 kΩ, comparable to gelled Ag/AgCl electrodes and below clinical thresholds. Ti 3 C 2 T x electrodes maintain stable impedance over 4.5 h on agarose phantoms and retain structure after 50 cycles of 80% axial compression. These electrodes are suitable for simultaneous EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), exhibiting no significant displacement, heating, or unsafe charge densities under TMS fields. We benchmarked dry electrodes across recording scenarios and hair types against gelled electrodes. In full‐scalp steady‐state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) recordings, gelled and Ti 3 C 2 T x electrodes were highly correlated (R > 0.89). Clinical EEG with Ti 3 C 2 T x electrodes captured all features observed with gelled electrodes (R > 0.84) and was rated for clinical quality by neurologists. Furthermore, dry MXene EEG electrode recorded high‐quality EEG for over 4 h. In mobile EEG, Ti 3 C 2 T x electrodes did not induce signal distortions and enabled task‐specific feature detection with a comparable signal‐to‐noise ratio to gelled electrodes. These findings establish dry Ti 3 C 2 T x electrodes as an alternative to gel‐based systems, with broad potential in clinical diagnostics and research.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Neurological disorders and treatments · Neuroscience and Neural Engineering · MXene and MAX Phase Materials

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Bioengineering University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Center For Neuroengineering & Therapeutics University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Center For Neurotrauma Neurodegeneration, and Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Applied Cognitive and Brain Sciences Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Drexel University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Department of Neurology University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Department of Neurology University of Rochester Rochester New York USA

Department of Neurology Drexel University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA

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